VERY INTERESTING: THE RAILGUN

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Fascinating Facts About America's New Electromagnetic Railgun

The U.S. Pentagon has fallen in love with electromagnetic railguns, and that could mean billions of dollars in contracts for the several companies working on the initiative.

But what is a railgun anyway? And which companies -- which stocks -- stand to benefit most from the U.S. military adding this new weapons system to its arsenal? I did a little digging, and here's what I've come up with: 10 fascinating facts about the electromagnetic railgun.

1. It's not your father's cannon. Conventional cannons ignite a modern variant of gunpowder to propel explosive shells at targets located miles away. A railgun operates differently, using electricity from powerful generators to accelerate a non-explosive projectile along electrified rails.

2. How it works, specifically. Electricity is run into one rail within a railgun's barrel, routed through the projectile itself, and into the second rail. Continued application of electrical current accelerates the projectile down the barrel, gaining speed all along the way.

3. It's faster than your father's cannon. Lacking a warhead, a railgun projectile derives its destructive force from its speed of movement -- kinetic energy. The railguns the Pentagon is developing are designed to accelerate projectiles to a top speed at roughly Mach 6 -- 4,500 miles per hour. 

4. It's faster in other ways. The 16-inch Mark 7 aboard America's old Iowa-class battleships fired two rounds per minute. America's new railgun is being designed to fire as fast as 10 times per minute -- a factor-of-five improvement.

5. It "shoots" farther, too... The Mark 7 cannon had a top range of 24 miles. In contrast, the railguns the Navy is designing will reach targets as far as 125 miles distant -- another fivefold improvement.

6. ...partly because its "bullets" weigh less. Shells fed into the Iowa's cannon weighed as much as 2,700 pounds each -- about as much as a 2016 Honda Civic. In contrast, a railgun projectile weighs just 25 pounds.

7. As a result, it can hold more bullets. Thus, any given warship can carry a whole lot more railgun projectiles in its munitions locker than it can conventional artillery shells. For any given amount of firepower desired, a railgun-armed warship can therefore be built smaller (i.e., cost less), require less frequent resupply (i.e., cost less), and be faster and harder to hit (i.e., need less frequent replacement -- and so cost less) than a WWII-era battleship.

8. Did I mention it costs less? Conventional cannon shells can't shoot as far as railgun projectiles. To match the range of a railgun projectile, you basically need to launch a self-powered cruise missile such as Boeing's (NYSE:BA×​) Harpoon, the latest version of which can strike targets 134 miles away -- but costs $1.2 million. In contrast, a railgun projectile costs just $25,000.

9. Small things come in small packages. Projectiles aren't the only things which are smaller and more efficient. The railgun itself has a smaller footprint than previous cannons. Stretching 32 feet in length, the barrel of a railgun is less than half as long as the barrel on an old Mark 7.

10. They play offense, and defense too. Traditional cannons have just one purpose: to blow stuff up. Railguns' cheap price tags and vastly greater range (and speed) permit them to assume a dual role. They can attack hostile warships and ground targets, yes. But they can also be used to shoot down incoming cruise missiles, and potentially aircraft and drones as well.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking